A stroke of luck for the Tübingen Jazz Club.
This trio is an all-star band in which, in addition to the three members, a queen seems to have a prominent place. The trio’s namesake is St. Louis saxophonist Greg Osby, a Blue Note artist who has also played with Basel drummer Florian Arbenz in other formations for many years.
Arbenz is also the one who put this current trio project on the map as part of his “Conversation” series. Hammond player Arne Krijger from the Netherlands is on tour with a hefty B3 and all sorts of accessories.
And it holds court. It stands expansively on stage before the concert, magically drawing everyone’s attention. The Hammond B3, a queen of instruments, a title actually attributed to its big sister, Her Majesty the Church Organ, but is perfectly acceptable here.
She’s a beast – he can tame it
Three different personalities meet in this ‘Conversation #9’ project – part of a carefully and elaborately produced 12-part series by drummer Florian Arbenz.
He is one of the most accomplished, versatile, and imaginative Swiss percussionists, in demand throughout Europe, and someone who brings together a wide variety of personalities. “She’s a beast…” he smiles at the organ at Club Voltaire, and introduces Arno Krijger from the Netherlands… “but he can tame it!”
And he – Arno Krijger – sits down – wearing stockings on his left foot – at the manuals, stops, and pedals.
The third member of the group, man in black, on the left of the stage, the saxophone flashes silver and sparkling. Greg Osby, under contract with Blue Note for many years, has played with Herbie Hancock and Jack de Johnette, among others.
Together, they create a shared music, true to the title of the Conversation’s motto. Alto saxophone runs meet the finely spun rhythmic webs of a highly innovative drummer from the tri-border region, all embedded in constantly meandering, changing soundscapes.
Created by a masterfully played organ that sometimes bubbles almost soothingly, then hisses with razor-sharp cuttingness the next, or flows into shared soulful and swinging grooves.
Arno Krijger’s playing is fascinating, as he dances with his left socked foot over the wooden bass pedals and glides virtuosically over keys, manuals, and registers.
Truth, Old Shaman & Freedom Jazz Dance
Extended improvisations, long, sometimes suite-like compositions, develop; above all, one can hear a distinctive, unique style.
American jazz meets rhythms that could have come from Africa, South America, or Switzerland. A Dutchman plays a soulful Hammond as if he had invented this dream instrument.
Alternating, escalating solos from saxophone and organ, acceleration and deceleration, sparkling dialogue, sometimes angular, edgy, funky staccato passages, then again a buttery, melting ballad.
This band creates shimmering soundscapes like in ‘Old Shaman,’ which lure you into unknown and mysterious sound worlds, or which, in the next song, ‘Truth,’ drive you forward in a funky and straightforward way.
The program is a mix of original compositions and jazz standards and classics. But above all, it is the music of these three musicians, their soundscapes and aural journeys.
‘Conversation’ is not just about this current trio project. Over the past few years, Florian Arbenz has realized a total of 12 band projects and productions, all dedicated to the joy and pleasure of collaborative, diverse, new, and surprising musical excursions under the title “Conversation.”
A rewarding and carefully edited CD box set has been created, with sometimes familiar ingredients but also completely new blends, Florian Arbenz has opened a treasure trove.
The completely sold-out Club Voltaire was deeply impressed on this May day. They were swept away, fascinated by this trio.
A classic in a new and astonishing guise, “Freedom Jazz Dance” by Eddie Harris, as an encore, once again suspended the Hammond with the rotating Leslie speaker, climbed to incredible heights with the silver sax, and then, with Florian Arbenz at the helm, landed us from this weightlessness.
Greg Osby (sax)
Arno Krijger (hammond)
Florian Arbenz (dr)
